Mail-delivery apparatus.



W. LEWIS.

MAIL DELIVERY APPARATUS.

APPLlCATlON FILED FB.23, 1917.

Patented 33.1.1,1918.

ng so W. LEWIS.

MAIL DELIVERY A PPARATUS. APPLICATION man 8.23. |911.

Patented Jan. 1, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

vwantoz wim/f j WILLIAM LEWIS, 0F NORFOLK, VIRGINIA. l

MAIL-DELIVERY APPARATUS.

To aZZwwm t may concern.'

Be it known that I, VILLIAM- Lnwrs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Norfolk, in the county of Norfolk and State of Virginia, have invented a new and useful Mail-Delivery Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

'I he device forming the subject matter of this application is a mail delivery apparatus, adapted to be used on railroad trains, and one object of the'invention is to provide novel means whereby a mail delivering device on a car, may be used for delivering a mail bag at a station, and for picking up a mail bag at the same station. .The inventionV aims to improve that portion of the structure which is located on the car, and to improve that portion of the structure which is located on the right-of-way. l It is'withinthe province of the disclosure to improve generally andv to enhance the utility of devices of that type to which the present invention appertains.

Vith the above and other objects in view whichv will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed can be made within the scope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Y In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 shows in top plan, a mail delivery apparatus constructed in accordance with the present invention, parts of the car being broken away Fig. 2 is a transverse section taken through the car, vand showing in end eleva* tion, the parts of the structure which are located on the ground;

Fig. 3 is a cross section taken through that part of the device which is located on the ground; l

F ig. 4 is a fragmental elevation showing a portion of the inside of the car and depicting particularly, the means whereby the mail-holding member `on the car is controlled andadjustedv; Y

Specication of Letters atent.v

Application led February 23, 1917. kSerial No. 150,495.

Fig. 'is a front elevation of that portion of the structure which is located on the ground; and a Fig. 6 is a fragmental elevation showing a portion of the means whereby the mail bag is held on the car, prior to delivery.

In the drawings, the numeral 1 denotes a car having a doorway 2 across which'extends a shaft 3 mounted in the usual way for rotation in bearings 4. The shaft 3 carries an angularly disposed rod 5. Mounted on top of the rod 5 and the shaft 3 are fingers 6 which are acutely disposed with respect to the shaft 3 and the rod 5, so that the ends of a flexibleV element 7, which may be a cord, may be wedged between the fingers 6 and the rod 5 and the shaft 3. The flexible element 7 Vextends across thel fork defined by the parts 5 and 3 and supports a ring 8 with which may be connected a `mail bag 28. The shaft 3 has a handle 9 which projects into the car 1, the handle constituting a 4means whereby the shaft 3 may be rocked, to swing the rod 5 inwardly and outwardly. A main latch 10 is mounted at 10, the other end of which is attached at 1"(l in any suitable way to the car 1.

Considering the invention as thus far disclosed, it will be understood that when the mail bag 28 has been assembled with the ring 8 the ends of the flexible element 7 are wedged beneath the fingers 6. Then the shaft 3 is rotated by means of the handle 9, to dispose the parts as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, that is, so to locate the mail bag 28 outside of the car 1 that the mail bag may be picked up by a suitable apparatus of any `kind located on the ground. When vthe auxiliary latch 14 is detached from thehook 12 of the main latch 10, the latch 10 swings forwardly under the action of the spring 16, and the hook 12 engages over the handle shown at 23, upon the parts 21. ln the end members 21 ofthe frame 18, a plurality of openings 2/1- are formed, and in any of these openings 18 may be received pins 25, slidably carried by the Vend portions of the arms 22. Each arm 22 is provided at its Vouter end with a hook 26, with which coacts a resilient latch 27 mounted on the outer end of the arm. n

Presupposing that a mail bag is supported by means of the flexible element 7 on the rod 5 and the shaft 3, as hereinbefore described, it will be obvious that as the train moves forwardly, the ring 8 will be received by the hook 2G, and be held therein. by the latch 27, a delivery of the mail bag 28 at a station thus being effected. ln F ig. 5 of the drawings, the mail bag 28 is shown as it will appear, after having been received on one of the arms 22. Since the arms 22 are duplicated at both ends of the frame 18, the mail bag may be picked off the train, irrespective of the direction in which the train is imoving, before the mail catching apparatus on the train taires up the mail bag at the station. Since the arms 22 are mounted to swing vertically on the pivot elements 23, and since the arms 22 may be held in vertically adjusted positions by engaging the pins 25 in the openings 24, the hooks 26 may be adjusted vertically, so that they will always be in position to coperate with the ring 8, as indicated in Fig. 2.

Mounted on the bottom 20 and the top 19 of the frame 18 are bearings 29l in which are journaledr the reduced ends 30 lof a post 31, the construction being such that the post may rock or rotate on a vertical axis. The post 3l carries vertically spaced arms 32, fulcrumed at 33, interi ediate their ends, on the post.l Secured to the post 31 and projecting rearwardly therefrom are segments 311 equipped with openings 35, adapted to receive pins 36 carried slidably by the rear ends of the arms 32. rllhe outer ends of the arms 32 are reduced as shown at 37, and arc adapted to receive rings 39 or the like can ried by a mailbag 38. rlhe mail bag 38 is mounted on the outer ends of the arms 32 as above described and as the trainv of which the car 1 constitutes a part moves along, the bag 38V is caught by the rod 5 and thus is delivered onto the train. It is possible to adjust the outer ends 37 of the arms 32 vertically, by swinging the arms on the pivot V38 of different lengths may be accommodated and held readily. When the mail bag 38 is snatched off of the ends 37 of the arms 32 by the part 5 on the car, the post 31 rotates on its axis, the reducedv ends 30 of the post being journaled ink the bearings 29`jon the frame 18. The structure which is located on the right of way, therefore, receives no appreciable or damaging shock when the mail bag 38 is picked upV bythe 85 train.

The construction of the device is such that a single instrumentality on the car is made eiiicient first for delivering a bag at a station, and then for picking up a bag at the' 90 same station, as the tra-in passes.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is l. ln a device of thefclass described, a car having a doorway; a shaft disposed trans*- versely of the doorway and j ournaled on' the car, the shaft being `provided with mail handlingrmeans; a handle projecting into the doorway from the shaft; a rigid main latch pivota'llyV supported on the car for 100 swinging movement and provided `with means for engaging the handle; spring means for advancing themai-n latch to cause the saine to coa-ct with the handle; and a-n auxiliary latch movably mounted on thecar and coacting with the main latch, to' hold the main latch retracted with respect to the handle, against the action of the spring means. v v

2. In a device of the class described, a car having a doorway; a shaft disposed transversely of the doorway and j'ournaled on the car; a rod projecting from the shaft at' an angle thereto; spring fingers on the rod and Y the shaft and extended longitudinally of the rod and the shaft; and a mail bag support bridging the space between the shaft and the rod, one end of the mail bag sup'- port being wedgedy between one finger and the rod, and the other end of the mail bag 120 Vsupport beingl wedged between the other finger and the shaft.

3. ln a device of the class described, a car having a doorway; a shaft disposed trans'- versely of the doorway and journaled on the car; al rod projecting from the sha-ft'at an angle thereto; spring fingersY on'the rod and on` the shaft and extended longitudinally of the rod and the shaft; a flexible element having its ends engaged, respectively, be- 13@ tween one nger and the rod, upon the one as my own, I have hereto aixed my signahand, and between the other nger and the ture in the presence of 'two Witnesses. shaft on the other hand; and a bag-holding ring secured to the intermediate portion of the flexible element and located between the shaft and the rod.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing Witnesses: v H. W. MELVIN, JNO. A. TERNE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ive cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

WILLIAM LEWIS. 

